


The King's Pet {Akakuro}

by Cryptic_Dawn



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Akakuro - Freeform, Fanfic, Gay, Gay Love, Hope this is good, Implied Aomine Daiki/Kuroko Tetsuya, KnB - Freeform, Kuroko - Freeform, Kurokosexual, Love, M/M, MxM - Freeform, No Smut, Pray for me, Sorry Not Sorry, Yaoi, akashi - Freeform, all the homo, aomine - Freeform, idk - Freeform, maybe? - Freeform, momoi - Freeform, mostly a happy fic, murasakibara - Freeform, totally gay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-11
Updated: 2016-10-08
Packaged: 2018-05-06 09:42:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 16,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5412056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cryptic_Dawn/pseuds/Cryptic_Dawn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Kuroko Tetsuya, a young farmer's boy far away from the populated town, heads out to help the other people during a drought, he comes across a starving child in need. After helping him, the boy disappeared and Kuroko never thought he would meet him again... </p><p>Now, years later, the ruling family of the land has adopted a new heir for the position as king and when this new, mysterious addition, shortly later, finally takes the throne; he throws a celebration for his coronation as king. </p><p>Kuroko, as well as most of the others of the land are invited, but only Kuroko will have his own fateful night when he finally meets the new King...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Before

**Author's Note:**

> This is an AU; if you weren't able to tell.

The summer for the kingdom was a horrid one. All the crops that the farmers planted in Spring refused to grow because of the unearned, suffocating heat and the dry ground. For the farmers, this was not a huge problem since they had already had plenty of stocks of crops they had kept as back up from earlier seasons that the Kingdom had promised to let them keep private. However, for the rest of the people, including the poor, they had sunken to low, pitiful levels of starvation.

The young 11 year-old Kuroko grabbed two basket full of some tomatoes and beans from the spring back-up supply. Kuroko's father was one of the few farmers who decided to share out part of their back ups with the starving people who were their middle-class neighbors awhile back.

Kuroko walked down the little dirt path that connected all the farmer's houses and the exit way towards the city part of the land, which was only a mile away. Normally he would take the the family horse but she was sick today and Kuroko decided he needed some exercise anyway since he always ended up working in the storage all day and sorting seeds.

As Kuroko entered the forest part of the trail, half a mile away from his destination, he saw a flash of colors dash between the trees far ahead of him. He knew well enough it wasn't just some trick of the light and he called out with a blank voice;

"Who's there?"

A little boy around the age of him slowly walked out from one of the thick oak trees. His hair was a magnificent pinkish-red and his eyes glowed the same color with a sliver of suspicion; keeping a general serious look on his facial expression. He wore torn, raggedy clothing you wouldn't even consider normally wearable; making Kuroko conclude that he must've been one of the already poor children who had been hit by the drought.

"What's your name?" Kuroko asked.

"...Akashi." The boy simply said. His right eye seemed to flicker gold for a second as he stared down the basket of tomatoes and beans in his arms.

Kuroko blinked a few times, a small smile appearing on his face as he realized what the boy had wanted. "Here, have some."

Akashi dived towards him, grabbing a tomato and eating it as he faced the opposite direction of Kuroko. It seemed that he was so hungry that the pride-like look his face had had disappeared almost instantly.

The red-haired boy quickly looked back; taking a few moments as a few blush marks took place on his face as he muttered his words quietly.

"T-Thanks."

"No problem," Kuroko said with a bigger smile, a little more heart put into it. "My name is Kuroko Tetsuya, by the way. Would you like to come over to my house? There's more food, if you want some."

Akashi just looked at him with lustful, hungry eyes and nodded slowly as Kuroko lead the red-eyed boy back to where his home was.

____

Luckily, Kuroko's father hadn't come home yet since he would most likely be angry that he brought a stray child when Kuroko still hadn't done what he was supposed to do. So, in case, he made Akashi the quickest meal he could and tried to make it the best as well since he wanted the red-haired kid to enjoy it.

It only took a few minutes for Akashi to finish it, looking at Kuroko as if he wanted more but felt a little wrong to ask. Kuroko understood, cooking up one more meal and handing it to him. Kuroko sat down in the chair next to him and began to ask a question.

"So, do you have any family members? I'm pretty sure they wouldn't leave you alone like that if you did." Kuroko said. Akashi slowed down his eating for a moment, a dark look in his red eyes.

"I was born an only child to my mother and father up ahead of the town that's near hear. Then, last year, my mother died from an illness. After that, my so-called 'father' said I wasn't his real son and he disappeared," Akashi said blankly, his right eye flickering gold a few times like before.

"I'm sorry," Kuroko said as he placed a hand on his own cheek and leaned towards the table. "So how'd you live on after that?"

"I stole food for awhile, but when drought had hit; no one had anymore food so I couldn't steal anymore."

"Hm..." Kuroko said as he blinked a few times and felt Akashi looking at him with those soft eyes. At that moment he hadn't felt the slightest feeling of intimidation from his strange, flickering gold eye.

There was a moment of silence before Kuroko looked out the window and noticed it was getting dark. He glanced back at Akashi.

"You can stay for the night. I have a secret bed behind mine you can use so my father doesn't find you," Kuroko gave a pleasant smirk as he continued. "If that's fine with you, of course."

Akashi nodded, making Kuroko stand up to grab the dishes and put them away, but not before Akashi grabbed his wrist before he could leave the table and looked directly at Kuroko with a strange, dark look lurking beneath the sea of his red eyes.

"Why did you decide to help me?"

There was a moment of silence before Kuroko decided to respond.

"I... used to be in the shadows always, as well." Kuroko sighed a little as he asked him that question.

Akashi just stared at him with the same look as he stood up and headed down the hall. Surprisingly, he seemed to guess which way Kuroko's room was correctly without getting lost.

As he went in, Kuroko followed and the cool, dark night soon came over the land swiftly and with a quick, relishing end to the heated, bright day that had felt more like a nightmare.

____

Akashi leaned over the bed side as he looked down upon the light-blue haired male. He felt a lot right now and he didn't know whether he should hate Kuroko for taking pity on him or appreciate him for saving his life from starvation. However, he still was confused why someone would still do that for him even after Kuroko had given that vague description why.

Akashi lowered his head towards the sleeping blue-haired boy face as he crouched down onto the ground for that moment to get at his level. In that moment he only felt himself whisper one thing to his 'savior' as his face was only an inch away from Kuroko's

"Thank you and good-bye"


	2. After

Kuroko had became sixteen in late spring, which had been five years after that night with the red-haired boy that had disappeared the next morning. The drought ended weeks later and eventually everything went back to normal for a few years... that is, until now.

In the same month Kuroko became sixteen, the Scarlet family, the rulers of the Land, had done something strange. Since their name was based off the fact every member of the family had bright red hair as a sign of 'pure blood', they decided that they needed a newer heir to take the throne after the great King died and that the others who had been in line to rule had suddenly lost their rights. Soon the Scarlet family announced that they found a lost son to the great King and that this strange addition to the family would soon be coronated. It's been two months and the position to rule was still being debated on...

To Kuroko, none of this really mattered. 

In the end, he felt unaffected about the news of a new king and even more so about whether the mysterious new heir would be coronated or not (or perhaps the question was when? Who knew, really.)

Kuroko broke out of his thoughts as he felt someone touching his shoulder, making him look back to see Kise. He almost camouflaged with the market place behind them as he looked at Kuroko with his bright, yellow eyes.

"Kurokochii~!" The blond said with an excited expression. "I've got something to tell you~!"

Kuroko wasn't surprised since Kise always ended up telling him 'something that happened' every day he saw him. "What is it?"

"You know the mysterious new heir?"

"Yeah, what about it?" Kuroko sighed. He didn't understand Kise's obsession with the ruling family and their affairs.

"Well, you know how it's been a few months after they said he would be King?" Kise grinned, seeming like he was about to start dancing like a maniac.

"Yes, go on." 

"W-Well today they said he's going to finally be coronated~!! And they're going to invite everyone to a celebration!!" Kise almost squealed and a few townsfolk eyed him strangely.

"So you want me to come with you so we could get free food?" Kuroko said with an honest yet blank look. 

"Yeah, but I could never go without you~!"

"Liar"

"Haha, you have no faith in me..."

____

The morning coronation was quite long, Kuroko heard, since he decided not go to the day portion since he had work to do for his father. However, as night came around, Kuroko managed to find a nice yet dusty old outfit he could wear to the celebration. He then met up with Kise soon after and headed to the castle.

Kuroko and Kise met up with the entrance after awhile, watching as the many laughing and smiling gentlemen and woman dressed in their best garments walked into the large banquet hall filled with dozens and dozens of people. 

Kise tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, there's a lot of richer folks here..."

"Are you planning on making connections with a few and taking advantage of them soon after?" Kuroko was quick to say.

Kise only laughed. "Haha, Kuroko... I'm not that deceptive..."

Eventually Kise had managed to drift away from him towards a group of finer ladies. Kuroko sighed; unsurprised.

Kuroko then decided to walk around a bit in between the crowds of people and up a large spiral of stairs and to an emptier part of the celebration. It was darker and the only light that managed to come through this large room was a giant window-like door to the left of him that held a medium-sized balcony on the outside. 

In that moment, Kuroko noticed a dark, tall figure leaning on the balcony and looking up towards the night sky. As Kuroko walked slightly closer, he also noticed he wore a long robe and a royal outfit that didn't belong to the Land due to its dark, deep shade of blue. The figure's hair color was the same, making Kuroko conclude that this was most likely a member of the Midnight Blue family from the west lands.

As Kuroko creaked the window door slowly, the figure looked back quickly with a dark look in his navy eyes. The person seemed suspicious of Kuroko yet there was also a tint of him that seemed like he really didn't care.

"What? Are you one of my men my father wanted to catch me?" The royal figure growled. 

"No, I'm Kuroko Tetsuya." Kuroko simply said.

The blue-haired male sighed, straightening up and turning around to face him. "So, I'm guessing you're just another one of the other people of the Land here for the coronation, right?"

Kuroko nodded.

"Well, then, you must be wondering who I am then, right? I'm obviously not from that Scarlet family."

Kuroko nodded again as he spoke. "You're part of the Midnight Blue family, right?"

"Yeah and I'm their fucking prince and that's even worse." He groaned as he glanced at the sky for a few seconds.

Kuroko blinked a few times. "Prince...?"

"Yeah, Prince Aomine or Prince Daiki; whichever you'd like to call me," Aomine said. "My father made me come here since we were going to have to meet up with the Scarlet family for some truce thing or whatever and then this Coronation thing decided to come along and now I'm forced to stay here for another two hours..."

"I think we're both in a very similar situation..." Kuroko said as he thought of Kise. 

Aomine glanced at him with a dark look before he turned around and looked down at the collection of towns below the castle's balcony. There was a long pause before he spoke.

"... What's it like to be... normal?" Aomine muttered.

"Excuse me?"

"Well, it's just..." He said. "I'm so used to our kingdom winning battles all the time that I feel like the only one who can beat us is... us..."

"So do you not want to be king?" Kuroko asked with an honest face. Aomine's eyes widened slightly before transitioning to normal.

"I... don't know. I used to always find the idea of ruling so fun but now... I just find it pointless now, you know?" Aomine said as he turned to look at him. "But what am I supposed to do when I'm king? Do the same old things like my father before my father and before? That sounds boring..."

"I think you'll find someone or some kingdom who can beat yours" Kuroko said. Aomine looked at him with an amused expression, a tint in his eye that made him almost want him to believe in that fantasy.

"Haha, maybe? Maybe not..." Aomine chuckled, walking towards the window-like doors and heading back inside as he was ready to go back down the stairs. 

However, before that, Aomine glanced back and said one more thing. "Nice meeting you, Kuroko Tetsuya."

And as the navy-haired Prince left, in that same moment, he heard a few noises from behind the corner of a hallway. Kuroko, slightly curious, followed the traces of noises behind a few walls and walked down a long hallway to see a wooden door lined with embedded patterns. A light outlined the rim of the door, making Kuroko realize he must have found the source of the noise.

He creaked it open slightly to see a medium-sized, royally styled room with a large fireplace running and portraits of past kings hanging up on the wall. A figure who wore a fine, black and embroided suit was playing the violin in the corner as Kuroko peeked in and he could almost sense the fluid moments the figure gave with their bow as they produced a light, soft tune.

Kuroko was about to recede back and not interrupt the player's session when he accidentally knocked over a coat hanger behind him and it fell down with a huge crash. 

The figure turned around, their eyes widening a little as they studied the intruder. It was then Kuroko recognized this person; their bright red hair... their cold, yet bright red eyes... how could he not remember him?

The man looked just as surprised as he did and then suddenly a smile took his face; Kuroko unable to sense the tint of darkness within.

"Hello, Tetsuya~" Akashi said with a pleasant yet shadowy expression.


	3. Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if anyone was OOC ;-; I wasn't sure if this was good or not, so be warned...

The dark room was lit up by several tall candles placed around the room; illuminating the faces of a few butlers and maids as well as a lone Scarlet family member standing around the long table. Seated at both ends was Kuroko and Akashi; whom eyed Kuroko with a pleasant, dark look. 

After Akashi found Kuroko, he practically dragged him to this place and the staff started handing out plates with a decent amount of servings to both as soon after a few moments that they arrived. Kuroko was feeling a bit rushed by this as well as confused.

Akashi smiled a little, breaking the silence as he spoke. "How are you?"

Kuroko was about to respond before he dropped his fork and leaned down to pick it up. However, before he could grab it, the Scarlet family member from before rushed over and leaned towards him, whispering into his ear;

"I'm warning you, peasant, say a word that makes you look like your good friends with King Seijuro, we will-"

"What's the matter?" Akashi said with a flickering, snake-like tone. "I hope he's capable enough to pick up his fork, is he not? Go away now..."

The member nodded slowly, backing away to the side. "Of course"

Akashi then glanced back at Kuroko; whose head was a little wrapped around what the family member said that he couldn't really pay attention. 

"So...?" Akashi chuckled a little "You didn't answer my question from before, Tetsuya." 

Kuroko flinched, looking at him a bit worriedly. "Oh, yeah, um... what was it again?"

"I said 'How are you?'"

"Oh, I'm... fine"

Akashi frowned a little as he gripped the knife in his hand. Kuroko presumed he was upset about something in that moment of silence.

"Aren't you going to ask?"

"Ask what?"

"About anything." Akashi growled slightly. "Like how that kid you met years ago is now your king."

"How, then?" Kuroko said. Akashi smiled once more, almost like Kuroko had finally followed his script.

"Well, I became their rightful ruler because my real father was in fact the Great king," He said with a slight pride in his face. "And because I'm absolute." 

"That's nice..." Kuroko said. It wasn't as if he wasn't interested in what Akashi had been saying; in fact, surprisingly, he was. It was just because of the red-haired Scarlet member in the corner giving him a deadly glare that told him to say as few words as possible, or else.

However, Akashi seemingly detested this lack of language or emotion. He spoke roughly. "Is something wrong?"

"No, it's just I think that I must be going now." Kuroko said, standing up and heading towards where he entered. "I don't want to be a bother."

"You're not a bother," Akashi said, standing up as well. Kuroko hesitated, not sure what to do for that moment. "You can stay."

"No, I really must go," Kuroko said after a moment of silence; thinking of some excuse. "I have to make sure Kise is okay."

"Kise? Who's 'Kise'?" Akashi said with a tint of jealousy in his voice. 

Before Kuroko could respond, the family member from before stepped in.

"King Seijuro, you have to meet with the family soon." He said. He seemed like he wanted to leave as much as Kuroko did in that moment.

"What's it about?" Akashi said.

"They didn't specify. They just said it was important".

Akashi sighed. "Fine, fine... I'll go..."

The family member smiled and glance at Kuroko, walking over towards him. "King, may I walk Mr.Tetsuya back downstairs?"

Akashi nodded as he headed towards the door, followed by a few of the maids from earlier. Before he exited through another entrance, he glanced at Kuroko and smiled darkly. 

"Bye, Kuroko."

As he left, the family member led Kuroko out the other exit and slammed the door as they went outside the room. Kuroko looked at the family member's face, sensing as if he was about to finish what he was talking about before.

"Look, Mr.Tetsuya, as I was saying before King Seijuro interrupted me; you need to stay away from the King." He said hastily and with a rough tone. "If you don't, that 'Kise' isn't going to be left in one piece... and trust me; we will find out who he is. We are, in fact, the Scarlet family. And we are absolute."

Kuroko felt himself stiffen a little. While it had not seemed like it, Kuroko actually cared about Kise within a part of him; no matter how extremely bubbly and annoying he was.

"So if I do agree to try to stay away from him, will you at least tell me why?" Kuroko said.

The family member paused, looking at him with an angry look. He then glanced to side and sighed a little, almost as if he admitted defeat towards himself.

"If anyone knows that King Seijuro is pursuing a peasant then they'll doubt he's royalty."

"Even if they doubt him, he's still the King's son, isn't he?"

The family member hesitated. "Well... we aren't sure. He might, but he also might just be another red-head who was found and placed as king. And I think that if he truly isn't the great King's son, his coronation would've been just an excuse to have someone in power."

Kuroko blinked a few times. "But don't they have princes who could've been King as well?"

"Well, the Scarlet family are like any other royal family; they want power. However, the people aren't stupid enough to fall for the whole family controlling the country for a long period of time. They need a king; a figure-head for them to look up to. And King Seijuro is just like that; a figurehead. Now, the other princes are much smarter about the system; smart enough that the family could not control them as easily as they wanted to. King Seijuro is practically their-"

"-pawn." Kuroko finished. The family member nodded, placing his hand on Kuroko's shoulder as he finished with a few more words.

"You must not tell anyone I told you this, especially the Scarlet family. Hell, I'm surprised I even dared to tell you this!" The Scarlet member gave a dark chuckle. "Anyway, Mr.Tetsuya, you have to go now. I don't want anyone around here to get the wrong idea..."

Kuroko nodded and the man walked away, but not before Kuroko said one last thing before he disappeared from his sight. "Who are you?"

The man laughed and glanced back. 

"I'm just the first Prince of the Scarlet family."

And as he left, Kuroko stared a little longer until he went back down the spiralling stairs to the celebration. He looked around to see about half of the party had left and only a few gentlemen and ladies dared to stay past the castle's curfew. Kuroko tried to see if he could find Kise as he met with the first floor when he suddenly felt someone touch him from behind. He turned around to see none other then the yellow-haired Kise himself.

"Kuroko-chii~! I haven't seen you this entire time!" Kise whined as he tugged at his sleeves. "I saw so many amazing things~!"

"I don't doubt it..."

"Oh, Kuroko-chii... where were you?What's wrong?" Kise whined a little more yet a little quieter and more worried-like. 

Kuroko sighed. "Let's just go home, Kise, and not worry about that..."

Kise smiled and his eyes lit up, his expression changing suddenly. "Okay~!"

And so they left, and Kuroko was stuck thinking about Akashi while Kise talked about his night at the celebration while they both headed back home.


	4. Stay

Kuroko was forced to go to town again a few days after that night. However, this time, he wasn't heading for the market place but actually to trade with one of the ladies who lived in the village houses. For some reason his father was afraid of her and he ended up making him go instead. It confused him for a moment, but in the end he shook it off.

He decided to stop by one of the little stores nearby before he went when he felt someone breath down his neck behind him. He tried to convince himself it was probably Kise, but he felt a little nervous nonetheless.

Kuroko turned around. "A-Akashi...?!"

The red-haired smiled a little, a strange look in his eyes. "Hey, Tetsuya... I finally found you."

Kuroko managed to calm down a little. It wasn't in him to show so much emotion. "U-Uh..."

He looked around, noticing a few townsfolk looking at Akashi weirdly since he had been wearing the Scarlet family emblem on his royal, styled clothing. Kuroko bit his lip a little and pulled Akashi back behind the little food store's stand, still looking around in case if anybody noticed. Kuroko then turned back to look at Akashi when he noticed how strangely close he was; making Kuroko blush a little for some reason.

"Hm?" Akashi said with a curious tone. "Is something wrong?"

Kuroko took a deep breath and tried to give a casual, calm expression, mumbling a little. "Uh, well, since you're the king... um... what are you doing out here?"

Akashi blinked a few times, almost as if he was surprised Kuroko would ask that. "I was looking for you. I wanted to have another dinner, or perhaps a walk with you, or something else. Anything that has to do with you."

Kuroko felt a little strange, especially by how Akashi had been talking. His tone of voice... something felt off...

"Well, uh, that's nice but... you can't be out here like this. I mean, you're the king and people will notice since you practically look like one." Kuroko said. Akashi only gave a small smirk.

"So you're worried about me?" Akashi said with devilish, grinning eyes. Kuroko gulped a little; feeling a mysterious strain on his heart as Akashi leaned a little forward towards him.

"U-Uh..." Kuroko managed to say when he glanced to the side and noticed an older lady had fallen with a bag filled with fruits; which had all fallen as well. 

Kuroko glanced back at Akashi in that moment. "Give me one second."

Akashi gave a look of slight confusion as Kuroko went over to the lady and helped her. As Kuroko finished picking up the fruits and said good-bye to lady as she left, Kuroko turned back to Akashi to see that the red-head still looked confused; almost as if he had never seen someone ever give an act of kindness in his life.

"What was... that?" Akashi asked, curiously. It looked like Kuroko had been right.

"Well, sometimes people help other people without benefiting at all. That's an act of kindness." Kuroko explained. "I'm surprised you never knew what that was."

"I never saw people do things like that when I was younger..." Akashi muttered a little, almost as if he was embarrassed that he didn't know.

Akashi paused for a moment and then glanced at him. His eyes fluttered with an even more intense curiosity. "If you don't benefit from it... why do you do it?"

"Well, because It's... nice." Kuroko smiled a little, looking down. "It's nice helping people. I like it. I don't need their money. They already pay me when they say thank-you"

"So, can I do something like that?"

Kuroko nodded, feeling a little humored as he spoke. "Yeah, you don't need to ask for my permission..."

Akashi looked around, almost as if he was searching for a candidate. His eyes lit up as he saw someone, walking towards them. Kuroko couldn't tell who it was until he noticed Akashi had been heading towards a man sitting on the curb with a sad expression, almost as if his raggedy, torn clothing had held him down just like his pitiful depression. 

Kuroko watched as Akashi talked to the man and handed him a pouch, heading back to Kuroko. As the man had peeked into the bag, Kuroko saw tears rush down his face; although this time, they had been joyful tears.

As the red-head came over, Kuroko immediately asked him; "What did you give him?"

"Hm... I think, about, a hundred gold coins?" Akashi pondered for a moment. "I wonder if that was enough-"

Kuroko burst out laughing and Akashi just stood there, frozen out of shock and very, very confused.

 Kuroko tried to calm down, attempting to disperse his laughs as he spoke. Mainly he had laughed at how strangely innocent Akashi was. "Haha... you're amazing, Akashi... you just practically made that man rich... you've made my day..."

Akashi's eyes glittered for a moment, yet he couldn't seem to speak out his thoughts clearly enough. "Uh, really... h-huh..."

Kuroko looked up at him, walking a little closer to Akashi. His whole face radiated with a strange joy as he wore a gentle smile.

"You're actually really.... nice, Akashi." Kuroko said, smiling. "I wouldn't mind being with you more-"

"I-I have to go back." Akashi interrupted, talking with a rushed tone as he spun around. Kuroko blinked a few times, confused, that was until he noticed from the corner of his face and his ear that he had been blushing furiously. 

"Are you... embarrassed?" Kuroko smirked slightly. Akashi flinched a little as he heard him.

"Uh, n-no... I'm completely fine." Akashi said hurriedly. He walked away from Kuroko and wiped some dirt from his shoulder. "See you later, Tetsuya. I'll talk to you later."

"Uh, Akashi-"

It was too late to reach him. The red-haired King had left rather quickly, disappearing into the crowds of people. Kuroko sighed, remembering how he had to meet at the lady's house for his father. As he begin to walk, he felt a strange, yet joyful feeling in his heart. He wasn't scared of this feeling, in fact, it felt rather nice, but he had no idea what it meant. Kuroko shook it off and finally headed on his way to the lady's house.


	5. Kiss

Strangely, for awhile, Kuroko hadn't been hearing much of Akashi nor had he seen him for a few weeks. Although he was a king and he most likely had affairs of his own, Kuroko wondered if his mysterious curiosity about Akashi disappeared. In a way, he was slightly relieved since he didn't have to worry about having to stay away from him because of the Scarlet family. But mostly--and strangely enough--he felt a little sad. Kuroko had missed him, somewhat.

He had managed to stop himself from stepping into the lake he was walking around. Today was Kuroko's free day from farming and he decided to go to this part of land where a few townsfolk would come and visit since no one owned it privately. Somehow, he had zoned out. Kuroko realized lately he had been doing things like that.

He heard a dark chuckle behind him. "Careful, Tetsu, you'll fall..."

Kuroko's eyes lit up; his spirit slightly lifting as he spun around to see if it was Akashi.

Only stormy blue eyes looked at him, Aomine's expression showing a questionable look of confusion as he spoke. "Ehh? What is it? Looks like somebody just killed your dog."

Kuroko sighed, looking down as he walked a little closer. "I thought you were someone else."

"So this 'someone' looks like me, huh? I'm curious now." Aomine grinned as he placed a hand on his hip.

"Well, not really..." Kuroko said. "I mean... maybe... your voices did sound a little similar..."

"That's a disappointment~" Aomine sighed in a whining tone as he plopped himself down on the ground, laying down immediately as he put both hands behind his head. "I want my own look-alike so I can observe my own beauty~ It's too bad~"

"Don't you have mirrors in your kingdom?" Kuroko said. Aomine laughed briefly.

"Yeah, we do, but what about my own 3-D one? Huh? It'll be my own living mirror~" Aomine smiled. He then glanced at Kuroko as he grabbed his wrist and yanked him down to the ground. "Finally, you're sitting down like a normal human being..."

Kuroko rubbed his wrist, feeling the pain almost throb throughout his arm. "U-Uh, huh..."

"Say, speaking of my not look-alike..."Aomine muttered. "Who is he, anyway?"

"Why do you want to know?"

Aomine blushed a little, looking sourly towards the ground. "J-Just cause."

"Well, he's, uh-" Kuroko was about to speak until a voice spoke behind him.

"Hello, Tetsuya~" Kuroko heard a voice from behind him as he felt hands going over his eyes. "Sorry for not seeing you for awhile, I've been busy"

As Akashi released him, which Kuroko could tell was him because of his voice (and this time he got it right), Kuroko saw that Aomine's eyes had widened and he was on his two feet; facing the red-haired king. To avoid being placed even more awkwardly in this situation by sitting, Kuroko stood up as well and tried to back away; suddenly feeling Akashi's fingers digging into his shoulders. It was a silent warning not to leave... yet.

Aomine glanced at Kuroko, a serious expression on his face. "Was this your 'friend' you were talking about?"

Kuroko nodded slowly as Akashi stared at Aomine with a fierce glare, his right eye flickering gold like so long ago. 

Aomine laughed lightly, but not out of real amusement. It was more grave-like. "Well, Tetsu... looks like you made friends with your own King! How hilarious..."

You could hear sarcasm dripping from his last sentence. 

"And it looks like he also made 'friends' with the Prince of the Midnight Blue family..." Akashi said with a light growl. "Isn't that even more... hilarious..."

Kuroko sensed an obvious distrust between the two, especially from Akashi. He was stuck inbetween, yet he couldn't really think of a way to break them up. 

"Um." Kuroko said, interrupting; feeling as if he had the slightest idea to separate them. They both looked at him. "Akashi, can you come with me please?"

Akashi looked at him as Kuroko glanced back. His expression lightened up somewhat and he smiled a little; the dark look still in his eyes.

"Yeah, Tetsuya, I shall" Akashi raised an eyebrow, the smile turning into a slight smirk. "It's best to leave filthy princes where they belong; by themselves."

One, Kuroko felt highly uncomfortable with Akashi smirking. And two, well, it seemed like Kuroko had dug this hole of hatred even deeper...

Aomine rolled his eyes as he began to walk away. "Whatever, red-haired princess, I'm equally as glad to leave dirt like you alone as well..."

As he left, Kuroko turned around slowly at his face; Akashi still looking at Aomine's exiting form with a fierce glare. His gold eye wasn't flickering as much as it was before, but Kuroko could still feel a small bit of it still trapped within those glossy, red prisons. 

"Why do you hate him?" Kuroko asked, out of the blue. Akashi looked down, his expression softening a little. 

"Well, because I'm suppose to," Akashi sighed. "The Scarlet family said so since they broke the truce recently in order to keep to the 'politics' or something, I guess. To be honest, I don't even really care about him- well, except for the fact..."

He trailed off, making Kuroko a little curious. "What?"

Akashi sighed; taking a moment to respond. "Well, except for the fact that... he's your 'friend' or something..."

"What does that mean?"

"Y-You ask too many questions." Akashi said, slight blush marks on his face.

"What does that mean?" Kuroko repeated. 

Akashi sighed once more. "Well, I mean that I only care because you guys are 'close'..."

"Oh." Kuroko said, blinking a few times.

Akashi's face then suddenly changed after those few minutes of silence, saying a clear expression that he just remembered something in that moment. 

"Tetsuya, I have to go," Akashi said. "I'm sorry for doing this like I did last time a few weeks back, but I really am busy this time."

"So last time you weren't?" Kuroko frowned. Akashi shook his head.

"No, I was, it's not like that; it's just that I'm even more busy now." Akashi said, a little worry in his voice; trying to convince him.

Akashi was then about to give a normal good bye and walk away like Kuroko predicted when he leaned in forward and planted a kiss on Kuroko's head. Kuroko blushed furiously for some reason and tried to hide it as he backed away; a clear smirk on Akashi's face.

"Bye, Tetsuya." He chuckled as he walked away. 

Kuroko was left there, feeling his heart pound for some weird reason. It was happening again, like that time before, yet this time it had intensified. It pounded throughout his whole body; this irregular heart beat.This time Kuroko had an even harder time shaking it of as he headed back home, the thought of Akashi pooling into his mind.

Little did he know, he was filling Akashi's as well.


	6. Visit

"Kuroko-icchi~!" Kise called from behind. Kuroko glanced back and felt the blonde-haired male glomp him in glee. Kuroko only sighed, walking slightly away from him.

"What?" Kuroko said, expecting Kise to say his Kise things. "Do you have another story about the kingdom or royal family or something?

"Well, actually; it's about you."

Kuroko's eyes widened slightly, blinking a few times. "Uh... huh... go on..."

"Well, um, are you really friends with the... King?!" Kise almost squealed the last word.

Kuroko looked around and expected to get weird looks by people like last time, but strangely enough, they weren't. He then looked back at Kise, whose face looked disappointed.

"Awe, Kuroko-icchi~! Why do you always look like I'm an embarrassment to you~!?" He whined. Kuroko just simply sighed.

"It's not that, I just don't want anybody to know I'm friends with the King..." Kuroko mumbled and Kise only laughed, making Kuroko a little shocked at his reaction.

"Oh, wow, Kuroko-icchi~! You really are innocent..." Kise wiped a tear away, a few laughs still with him. Kuroko felt a little annoyed. 

"What... do you mean?" Kuroko said sternly.

"Well, the whole village knows about him now! He's been doing nice things for the classes and donating currency and food to those who are starving and poor! They're calling him the 'Gold giver'~" Kise grinned. "You're lucky to be friends with such a kind King, Kuroko-icchi~!"

Kuroko smiled slightly, remembering about that one day with Akashi. He must've been growing on that thing I 'taught' him ever since...

"Ehh??!" Kise awed loudly, Kuroko almost flinching at his voice. "You smiled, Kuroko?! Are you fond of him or something!?!!"

Kuroko's face turned bright red, his eyes growing wide. "N-No, I don't know what you mean by that!!"

"It's okay, Kuroko-icchi~!" Kise laughed, enjoying every last drop of his expression. "I don't mind if you're a... pillow-biter~"

Kuroko's whole body was bright red as he spun around and tried to hide it. "I-I-I'm not into... i-into... that...!"

Kise sighed pleasantly, beginning to walk away. "Whatever you say... sword-swallower~"

Kuroko was left there, out of words. He knew Kise could be annoying sometimes, but this... this...

He just gave a harsh sigh, letting out any negative feelings out of him and letting it go. Kuroko then began to walk along, thinking about stopping by the kingdom to talk more to Akashi.

~

"King Seijuro, may I have a moment?" The Second prince said as he knocked on the side of the wall by the door to Akashi's room. 

The red-haired looked up at him as he sat on the side of his bed while he was tying his laces to his white shirt, a blank gaze studying the Scarlet family member from that dinner he had with Kuroko weeks before.

"Yes, I don't mind." Akashi sighed with a blank expression. The Second prince walked in, offering silently to help him with his shirt. Akashi nodded, the prince kneeling down to help him.

As he did so, the Second prince spoke. "I need to talk to you about Mr. Tetsuya."

"What about him?" Akashi sighed once more as he kept his calm, secretly fidgeting on the inside as he mentioned him.

"Well, you know already; the royal family has told you countless times that you can't be near any commoners; especially Kuroko." He growled the last word. He didn't hate the blue-haired male but he still had to act like it for the family. "But you still keep doing it!"

Akashi smirked. "Then what about all the villagers I donated to and interact, huh? I'm sure you've heard of that going through the Kingdom..."

"Yes, I know about you the 'gold giver' and I find it completely ridiculous, yet that wasn't what I meant," He sighed, finishing the last tie of Akashi's lace. "Interacting with the Kingdom's commoners isn't the problem; interacting with only one, particular commoner is"

Akashi then stood up, looking into his eyes with a deep, fierce red-eyes glare. His eye was completely gold, not even flickering like before. The second prince gulped a little, feeling intimidated by Akashi's sudden mood change.

"What does it matter?" Akashi chuckled darkly, a tint of seriousness in his laughs. "Why worry about me being friends with just one 'commoner'?"

"Well, the thing is-"

A black-haired man knocked on the door and popped his head in, making the two royal family members look at him. He coughed a few times before he spoke.

"King Seijuro, you have a commoner who wants to visit you. Would you like to tell them to go away?" 

Akashi flicked his hand in the air. "Tch, just tell them they are free to roam the Kingdom's castle, whoever they are, until I am free to talk to them; understand?"

"Sir-"

"Do it." Akashi lightly growled. The man nodded and walked away, causing Akashi to look back at the Second prince; whose expression said he was ready to finish what he had been talking about.

"Well, um, as I was saying..." He said. "The royal family thinks you're... queer--may I say it kindly--towards this commoner. Basically, they think your something like a sodomite." 

A knot twisted within Akashi, feeling a strange rush of anxiety. He knew he would just have to deny it, but the fact that the family had found out that he was an 'unnatural act' (as they liked to put it); well, it could mean his crown...

"A queer? Towards that commoner?" Akashi laughed; trying his best to be a convincing actor. "How ridiculous. Why would I ever be attached to him like that?" 

"Very well, I guess you may be right" He said with a suspicious tint in his eye as he began to leave the room, waving a hand in there air goodbye. "I'll disperse their rumours about you immediately since they are obviously incorrect about you..."

As Akashi sighed, relieved to be out of that situation, he suddenly heard a few creaks by his door. He stood up, suspiously, and looked around outside in the hallway. No one. Sighing once more, he headed out; ready to go downstairs to talk to that black-haired man about that 'visitor'.

Kuroko had managed to hide behind another wall before Akashi could see him, a weight pulling down his heart. Why did he decide to visit Akashi today, to roam around looking for him? Today, when Akashi said those strangely hurtful words? At that moment he didn't understand why it hurt his heart so much, why it almost caused him to cry. Then Kuroko realized;

He liked him.

A lot.

Kuroko walked away from his room, heading downstairs to tell the man who told him he would alert Akashi about his presence soon that he didn't need 'King Seijuro' anymore. The man looked a bit confused, but reluctantly agreed and let him go. After a few minutes after Kuroko left, Akashi came to the black-haired man.

"So, where is he? This visiter?" Akashi asked. The man shook his head.

"He said he was fine now, that he didn't need you."

"Really? That's strange..." Akashi said as he flipped a gold coin at him and at his hand. "Thanks, anyway."

Akashi walked away, heading back upstairs with a smirk on his face as he thought about meeting up with Kuroko again.


	7. Him

"A queer? Towards that commoner? How ridiculous. Why would I ever be attached to him like that?" 

Kuroko stood by the sidelines, his heart beating with pain. He knew this was a dream, yet it felt so real. Those hurtful words from a few days ago were coming back and he didn't really want to hear them again...

Suddenly, the scene changed and it was Akashi looking at him with amusing eyes.

"You heard me, right? That means you understand that I would never like you" The dream Akashi growled with a disgusted expression. "You're sick... filth like you should be left alone.

Endless laughing surronded the wide-eyed Kuroko as he felt the black floor give way and he sank into an endless pit; feeling his presence vanish slowly within the dark abyss.

~

Kuroko opened his eyes to look up at the sky; alone by himself in the same open, green area by the lake he was at with Aomine a few days ago. He was lying under a large, older oak tree nobody really went to. 

Kuroko felt relief rush through him when he realized he woke up from that nightmare. He felt like he may have been taking this 'rejection' a little too much since they did just meet a few times, making it seem more awkward when you put it like that; but nonetheless this 'crush' had ended up hurting him in the long run.

Suddenly, a man tapped Kuroko's shoulder and he almost flinched, holding himself back so he didn't look too surprised. The man had a plain appearance, a stern expression, and the royal symbol on his cloak that struck him more clearly then anything else. He looked like some sort of 'guard' from the castle; perhaps even one of the King's personal guards.

"Hello, sir, I'm sorry to bother you but I have a question for you." He spoke. Kuroko sighed, slowly standing up to face him. 

"Yes?"

"Well, have you seen or heard of a person called 'Kuroko Tetsuya'?"

"Um..." Kuroko hesitated for a moment, responding after analyzing the possible situation. "...no. No, I have not."

The man grumbled, seeming as if he had been asking people this for awhile. "Thank you anyway, sir"

As the man headed out towards some other passing fellow, Kuroko attempted to leave quickly without looking too suspious. He finally left, entering into the nearby town. He walked around for a bit; unconsciously heading so close to the castle he was only fifty feet or so away from it.

Kuroko felt his heart sink, a strange feeling of sadness washing over him. This place reminded him of Akashi...

In the end, he didn't really realize why he had been upset for this long. Kuroko knew, of course, that he liked Akashi like that; but why... why was he surprised? Why had he been surprised that Akashi had said that? Of course Kuroko knew he would never like him.... why would he?

Someone pulled Kuroko around the corner, behind a few trees and bushes that separated parts of the town and the Kingdom's castle. For some reason, in that slow, tiny moment he was being dragged, Kuroko's thoughts of Akashi had clouded his mind before the feeling of fear and panic normal people would've had when being 'kidnapped'.

"Tetsuya?" 

Kuroko looked up to see Akashi, red eyes looking back into his. He looked a bit worried, but still managed to keep his normal, 'Akashi' look.

"Akashi..." Kuroko said slowly, his heart hurting even more then before. Something was telling him to stay away from him or he would break from these feelings.

Akashi reached his hand towards him, only to have Kuroko avoid it and walk away from in front of him; refusing to look at him.

"What's wrong?I haven't been able to find you for awhile, so I sent a guard" Akashi said, slight confusion swirling in his voice until it darkened slightly as he finished his next sentence. " Are you... avoiding me?"

Kuroko gulped slightly, breathing in and out a little before he spoke. "No, King Seijuro, I'm not."

"Don't act so unfamiliar to me," He hissed sloghtly, controlling his displeasure. "I may be a king but I'm not a stranger to you."

"Sorry... King Seijuro." Kuroko said with a sigh.

Suddenly, Akashi grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around; looking into his eyes. His golden eye had lit up and a fierce expression had taken Akahi's face. 

"Tetsuya, stop doing this; whatever your doing..." He growled, his expression softening a little as he continued. "... please."

"I... don't..." Kuroko managed to say. "I don't... want to be near you anymore. That's... why. That's why I'm acting like this, if you wanted to know..."

Akashi took a step back, his eyes widening a little. "What...?"

"Just, leave me alone... please." Kuroko sighed, walking away. 

He didn't hear Akashi say anything while he walked away from him; feeling a little disappointed as he left. Kuroko just shook the thought; looking ahead and deciding to go with the decision to not see Akashi for awhile until he decided what to do.

Eventually, he reached to an area a little farther behind the castle that was mostly sprawling plains except for a medium-sized cottage sitting in the middle of the grassy lands. Kuroko was only a few feet from the entrance and was about to turn around to leave when he accidentally backed up into someone right behind him. He was about to say a quick sorry until he saw who it was.

"Tetsu... what are you doing here?" Aomine said, a bit of surprise in his voice. Kuroko blinked a few times, attempting to keep the conversation that would follow monotone.

"I was just walking and I found this place... Is it yours?" Kuroko asked. 

"Uh, well, not exactly..." He hesitated for a moment, laughing nervously as he continued. "I may have 'rented' it from some lower noble or something... hehehe..."

"Why did you rent it?"

"Cause' I'm not going to sleep in those dirty guest beds in that filthy castle!" Aomine growled, crossing his arms as he looked to the side with an nasty look. "I don't care if my father wants me too; he's the one who keeps bringing me to these stupid, endless negotiations with those Scarlet people...!"

"Oh..." Kuroko said with a deflated expression. He still felt upset from earlier.

Aomine looked at him with serious eyes, quickly scoffing and glancing to the side once more as if he had concluded an internal battle within himself.

"You can come into my cottage, ya'know." He sighed. "It seems like you need somewhere to go since you're acting all depressed like that."

Kuroko looked at him a little wide-eyed, a soft, pink blush dusting his cheeks. "I-I'm not depressed..."

"You're embarrassed...?" Aomine laughed. He rubbed Kuroko's hair roughly as he headed inside, waving his hand in the air as a signal to 'come in'. "Don't be, short stuff, everyone is human after all..."

Kuroko felt himself smile slightly for the first time in awhile; feeling himself walk inside with Aomine.


	8. Advice

A fresh fire inside warms the room as Kuroko walked inside. Although it had looked like a normal cottage on the outside; it had a strange nice, collected way about the inside that reminded Kuroko a lot about the castle. It was pampered, almost, like one of those royal bedrooms.

"Sit" Aomine commanded. Kuroko felt himself sit down in one of the chairs nearby. The darker blue-haired male sat along with him in a chair facing him; almost like this had become some therapeutic moment.

"Okay; first things first, state your problem." Aomine said with a glint in his eye. He seemed unnaturally determined.

"I thought you just wanted me to come inside..." Kuroko said, blinking.

"Yeah, to talk about your problem!" Aomine growled; placing his hands on his knees.

"Well..." Kuroko said, pondering. "I don't know how to describe it-"

"Haha! So you're actually admitting you ARE depressed!" Aomine laughed, smiling with an accomplished look on his face. "I've finally cracked you, Tetsu..."

"Normal people don't laugh at things like that..." Kuroko muttered as he blushed slightly; regaining his calm composure as he continued. "Plus, Isn't that kind of off-topic?"

Aomine's expression immediately turned serious, a sharp tint in his eyes. Kuroko wasn't sure how he managed to change expression so quickly... he was a strange person, indeed.

"Yes, it is... now we'll go onto the real deal..." Aomine chuckled darkly, making Kuroko feel like he had just made this situation much worse...

Later, Kuroko ended up telling him mostly everything that had been going on recently. He didn't go into too much depth, yet enough to where Aomine could give his 'advice'; which Kuroko began to realize this was what he wanted to do all along. 

"Hm..." Aomine said as he rubbed his chin. "Well, good thing is that my country doesn't care about queers that much so I don't hate you like some people do, at least..."

"Thanks, you're really reassuring..." Kuroko said with a tint of sarcasm. Everyone seemed to be obsessed with using these words to describe him...

"Anyway, you don't actually plan to stay away from him forever, do you?" Aomine said, his stormy eyes falling on Kuroko as his usual expression took his face. "I mean, I hate him and all; but even I wouldn't go as far as to do that if I was 'friends' with him..."

Kuroko looked down, feeling himself wanting to sigh. "No, but... I only told him that so he could at least stay away from me until I thought of what I was going to do..."

"Hm... well... you could just still just be friends and act like you were sick or something when you told him all that stuff..." Aomine sighed as he fiddled with a piece of dust on his chair.

"But wouldn't that-" 

"I wasn't finished," Aomine said as he glanced over at Kuroko. He paused for a moment before he spoke again; looking back down. "Anyway; you could still act like friends and let it grow into something else by doing things silently; like 'hints' and 'flirting' and all that stuff girls do..."

"Ah, okay..." Kuroko said, understanding a little better (although he felt weird being compared to a girl...). However, it took him a moment to realize something important that was missing from. "Actually, I have no idea how to do that, to be honest."

"Easy," Aomine smirked. "That's where I come in."

Kuroko felt uncomfortable with his intentions that had shown through his voice. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Aomine grinned with prideful eyes; his voice almost singing with accomplishment now. "I could be the tip of the love triangle!"

"Uh-huh... what love triangle again?" Kuroko said; his eyes blank. Aomine sighed disappointingly; upset he didn't get more of a reaction.

"Well, I could make him notice you more by me giving you signs of affection. Guys notice things like that so it'll be a top notch plan..." Aomine said as he stood up. "By the way, would you like some tea?"

Kuroko nodded and Aomine went to what he presumed a mini kitchen. Kuroko was left in his thoughts in that moment; feeling like he could trust Aomine with doing this.

This must work out, he thought, or else I don't know what else to do...

Aomine walked over to the door really quick, looking out for a moment before he ran back inside and muttered "shit!" under his breath as he reached for a pile of clothing.

Kuroko sat there, confused, until Aomine came over as he was putting on a royal cloak.

"Sorry, Tetsu, my father is coming back from a meeting and he'll be pissed if I'm not in the castle like he told me to," Aomine said as he almost dashed out the door. "Bye, Tetsu!"

As he left, Kuroko was left there by himself, except for the consistent breeze streaming into the cottage making a little rattle as it passed through the wooden window. He stood up, heading out from the cottage and the grassy plain and a little closer to the castle; except on its right side now. The palace looked especially quiet today, for some reason, and Kuroko wondered why.

Suddenly, he glanced behind him to see Akashi standing only a foot away. His expression was unreadable and Kuroko could not detect whether or not he was angry or sad.

"Hello, Kuroko" Akashi said. 

"H-Hey"

There was an awkward moment of silence before the red-haired male spoken

"I... apologize about before, it's my fault..."

"What?" Kuroko stood there, confused on why he had suddenly made himself seem guilty.

"I understand that you were upset at the fact I'm rarely able to see you," Akashi sighed, closing his eyes for a moment until he opened them as he continued. "That's why I've come up with a solution."

"What would that be?" Kuroko blinked. He was still genuinely confused, yet he understood that Akashi completely misunderstood this situation.

"Well, I had to ask a lot of the family members about this, but..." Akashi smiled a little as he continued. "Would you like to live with me from now on?"

Kuroko felt himself waver; thinking about how he would respond. This is really sudden... do 'friends' normally do this?

"Um..." Kuroko paused for a moment, trying to decide quickly. "... sure."

Akashi smiled a little more. "Good. I don't know what I would've done if you said no."

Akashi went alongside with him; almost pressuring him to walk inside the castle as he strolled besides him. That slightly dark smile was still on his face as Kuroko went inside with him; feeling as if he had messed up what Aomine had been planning before as well as doing something that he wasn't suppose to be doing in the first place...

Kuroko felt a little, right now, that he was starting to become something like the King's pet...


	9. Meeting

They entered the main room, which was the place where all the hallways connected to as well as the main entrance to the castle. It was filled with almost countless members of different families as well as from the Land's own family; the Scarlets. Aomine leaned next to Kuroko's ear as he gripped his shoulder.

"See those two over there? That's the Magenta and Emerald king and prince..." Aomine whispered, pointing in a way nobody really noticed. There was a green-haired male with these black-rimmed glasses right next to a huge, almost towering purple-headed giant with a... snack in his mouth? 

Kuroko had thought a person like Aomine was already weird enough for a royal... now it looked like there were more.

"What are their names?" Kuroko asked.

"Well, if you mean not their official royal names or titles, the green-haired one is Midorima and the purple-haired giant is... um... Mura...sakibara...kun? I think? I'm pretty sure that's it." Aomine pondered the last sentence. "He's a strange fella'..."

"Is the 'Kun' a normal part of his name?"

"Nah, people just like to add it on cause it's smooth or 'poetic' or something..." Aomine sighed lightly, glancing back at the two and then back at Kuroko. "Look, it's better if I just take you to the King right now because if he allows you to be here at this meeting, which I'll convince him too; no one will be able to question him since he is, after all, the host and a King."

"The same doesn't apply to you?" Kuroko blinked.

Aomine chuckled. "Hell no. I'm not even part of the Land's family! I have no authority here... they probably would even dare to say I brought you here and say it was my fault!"

"But you did bring me here-" Kuroko pointed out.

"Shut up." Aomine muttered.

"But I'm just telling the truth-"

"Shut. Up."

"Aomine-"

"Look, I said 'shut up' because that Midorima fellow from before is coming over here; right now!" Aomine growled with a quiet voice, looking directly at a certain green-haired fellow who, indeed, had began walking towards them. "Now shush, Tetsu-"

"Prince Daiki, I presume? I haven't seen you in awhile." Midorima said plainly and seemingly boringly, glancing at the slightly panicked-looking Aomine.

"O-Oh, uh, yes..." Aomine chuckled nervously. He looked at Kuroko then back at Midorima. "I've... been busy with ... stuff-"

"'Stuff'? So informal." Midorima questioned with a heightened eyebrow. He pushed up his glasses; a strange bandage-like substance wrapped around his fingers. "Are you really a Prince? Or an illiterate? I can't tell... you seemed to be too brainless to be a King..."

Kuroko could almost hear Aomine's thoughts say 'bastard' or 'douche'. The blue-haired male was pretty simple-minded so it was easy to tell; especially by his facial expression and his clenched fists.

"Yes, Midorima, I am a Prince and the rightful heir to the Midnight Blue family throne," Aomine growled. His slight anxiety from earlier was replaced by an annoyance anyone could easily sense. He shifted a little, a dark grin on his face and a satirical look growing in his eye as he contiued. "Besides, why would a dirty little worker like you who goes to help control and fire those famous, long-shot cannons that your family used to kill a bunch of my people question me about being a Prince? Shouldn't I be asking that of you, you little Second Prince runt?"

"You are very easy to tick off, Prince Daiki. Not so much me." Midorima looked down and chuckled a little. "Nice try, though. You do bring out some good points..."

He finally glanced at Kuroko, a threatening look in his eyes when he did so; any false sense of humour he had given to Aomine dissipated. "Anyway, who is this? He smells like dirt."

Kuroko thought for a moment with a frowning expression. I smell like... dirt? He's really... rude. I don't like him... 

"He's in the good company with King Seijuro." Aomine growled, grabbing Kuroko's arm in an almost defensive position. "The King let him be here on his own free will; you cannot violate that!"

"Well, I never did trust that new King... he comes out of nowhere and decides to rule the most powerful family in all the six lands; it's not that surprising he would take a random partner from those dirt towns. He's not fit too rule, yet I can't disagree with you on that; unfortunately," Midorima sighed, pushing his frames up. He leaned a little towards Kuroko with a stern look on his face. "All I can do is just watch you walk around here like you own the place just because you fiddle with the King's flute. What an eye sore."

Kuroko just bit his lip, glancing to the side while Midorima just simply backed up and turned around; leaving them and towards another Emerald family member.

"Gosh, what a bitch." Aomine hissed, crossing his arms."He was a stern fellow, I admit, but now he's gone too far. He's changed."

"What did you mean by those cannons?" Kuroko quickly asked. Aomine grumbled. 

"Well, his family were the ones to invent those things; firstly." Aomine sighed; stretching his arms. "However, he made them famous, because he had enhanced them to shoot long-distance and has been working on them like a little slave Prince ever since..."

"And did he-and his family-really use it to kill some of your people-"

"Stop it, Kuroko Tetsuya. Stop asking so many questions and leave things that don't matter to you alone..." Aomine growled lightly. "Now, let's take you to-"

"Everyone! Listen up!" A dark blue haired male who was probably Aomine's father broadcasted throughout the main hall. Everyones small talk and chattering vanished into silence. "King Seijuro is kind enough to inform you that you are all...

"Jesus; don't say it-" Aomine muttered.

... invited to a feast!" 

Aomine placed a hand on his face; moaning. "Great lord, I hate this part..."

Kuroko blinked, looking at him. "It's just a feast. A normal, polite thing for a host to do-"

"Nope, nope, nope, Tetsu; it's never just a feast when these royals are part of it! Something's gonna happen... I know it..." Aomine mumbled, looking downwards. Kuroko just sighed, grabbing his arm sleeve and pulling him towards the gates to where the main table was.

"Oi! Let me go, I'm not-"

"Just follow me." Kuroko said. "I can't go alone..."

"You can be really stingy sometimes..." The dark blue-haired Pince mumbled as they both entered the hallways and headed towards the general direction where the rest of the royal guests were going to ...


	10. Play

The dinning hall was large and the long, wide table that had been its center piece had taken almost all of the space in that room. There was a stage behind the King's main chair at the end of the table; most likely for plays during the royal family's meals. Dozens of guests were finding their appropriate seat next to whichever family they belonged to.

Aomine waved goodbye as he pulled away from Kuroko, heading over to his family. He was left alone thinking of what to do.

He backed up, accidentally hitting someone from behind. Kuroko turned his head around to see who it was; the person's hands holding onto the sides of his arms tightly as if to keep him locked there for a moment.

"Hello, Tetsuya. I didn't think you would be here." Akashi smiled slightly. "Here, follow me; I can find a seat for you..."

Akashi let go, leading him towards where the King's seat was and showing Kuroko a seat that was right next to him except on the right side of the table. Right next to the seat on Kuroko's side was the King they called Murasakibara, who seemed to be eating endless little snacks he probably brought on his own.

"I would love to chat, Tetsuya, but I have to go somewhere right now so please be patient... I'll be back soon." The red-eyed male smiled slightly. Kuroko hesitantly nodded and watched as Akashi walked of; observing his retreating figure. Kuroko was left in a distance thought for a moment before the purple-haired King broke it.

"Hm~? You must be the guest that everyone talks about~" Murasakibara said while continually munching on his snacks. Something about his voice... it sounded really plain yet child-like to Kuroko; it was indescribable.

"What do you mean?" Kuroko said while glancing at him. The purple-eyed male sighed lightly with a bored expression.

"They can tell that you don't belong~" Murasakibara said. "You have something about you that says that you're just a commoner..."

"Is that so..." Kuroko looked downwards. I guess it is pretty obvious...

"Well, since you are practically the King's pet, no one's going to say that to your face; I don't think you should really even care about their opinions anyway~" He mumbled the last sentence as he leaned back. "People tell me to stop eating so much but since I'm their King I made sure they learned very quickly that they won't be taking my snacks... so try to do the same thing~ Well, when someone actually does something to do that to you first..."

"Well, um, what if someone already said something like that?" Kuroko asked.

The purple-haired male glanced at him with plain eyes as he spoke with an almost slow, calm yet child-like voice. "Eh? Who, exactly~?"

"Prince... Midorima" Kuroko replied quietly.

"Hm~ He was always a strict person anyway... always talking about horoscopes. He always bothers me when I'm eating... I don't like him~" Murasakibara whined a little at the last part. His expression suddenly shifted normally as he looked towards his other direction. "Besides, isn't that him right now talking with your King~?"

Kuroko followed Murasakibara's line of sight; seeing that the purple-haired King had been right. Kuroko quickly became curious of what they were talking about... not really understanding why he wanted to know in the first place.

"I'm going to get a drink... thank you for telling me." Kuroko mumbled as he got out of his chair.

"Okay~" The purple-haired giant sighed and continued to eat his food.

Kuroko then headed over to where a little table in the corner that held the drinks before the meal, grabbing one and secretly watching as Prince Midorima continued chatting with Akashi. Akashi's face looked bored as he listened to whatever the green-haired Prince was telling him.

Kuroko glanced back at the table when he felt someone tapped his shoulder and Kuroko looked up at whoever it could've been.

"Kuroko-icchi?!" Kise said with a hushed voice. "What are you doing here?!"

Kuroko stood there, wide-eyed as he looked at what Kise was wearing. It seemed royal, yet it also looked... clownish? This was very confusing...

What is he doing here; that's the real question, Kuroko thought.

"I'm with Akash-" Kuroko was about to finish when Akashi came over with Midorima following behind him.

He patted Kise's back, looking at him then at Kuroko with that slight smile of his. "It looks like you're socializing, Tetsuya. That's nice; especially with my Joker, of all people."

Kise laughed nervously, looking at Kuroko with a panicked and confused expression.

"Yes, I... think he's very entertaining." Kuroko said quickly as he glanced back at Kise who looked like he was saying 'thank you' silently. It seemed that for some reason Kise didn't want Akashi to know that he knew Kuroko...

"'Tetsuya', huh? So that's what you're called... " Midorima said, entering the conversation as he pushed up his frames. He then directed his gaze at Akashi. "... You really are with this commoner, aren't you?"

"Yes? What about it?" Akashi said a little suspiciously as he shifted his eyes towards the green-haired male. Kuroko stood there, quiet.

Midorima smirked. "That's interesting... I never thought that this country would be so open-minded about pillow-biters..."

Kuroko froze, flushing red all over as he felt himself become very, very anxious. The tension in the air hung over him like giant weight. I think Midorima got the wrong idea about this... how's Akashi going to react?

"If that means that I'm good friends with him, then sure, we're pillow-biters." Akashi said as he went by Kuroko's side; facing the green-haired with a slight smirk on his face. He really shouldn't be smirking at this, Kuroko thought.

Midorima looked a bit shocked, while Kise looked like he was about to burst out laughing at any moment. Kuroko was still blushing; mostly out of a mix of embarrassment and his feelings.

Midorima scoffed, turning around and leaving. Akashi looked at Kuroko with pleasant eyes.

"Let's get seated... the feast is almost ready soon." Akashi said.

"S-Sure..." Kuroko frowned. The red-haired male smiled, nodding as he headed over towards the seat by the end of the table. Kise quickly rushed near to Kuroko's side with a grinning, laughable expression.

"Who knew the King could be so hilarious~!" Kise laughed, placing a hand on Kuroko's shoulder. "He should've been the Joker instead of me~!"

"Speaking of that, why didn't you tell me you worked for the Scarlet family?" Kuroko turned to look at him, moving Kise's hand off of him.

"Oh, well I didn't think it really mattered..." Kise said. "It wasn't like I was even the main part of the family, anyway; they only needed me on some occasions so I was practically like another commoner in the town who didn't have that much money..."

"Okay, then, why did you want me to act like I didn't know you?"

"Well, um, I thought he might do something bad to me~" Kise whined, flailing his arms. "He can be scary sometimes~!"

"That's..." Kuroko said, sighing as he continued. "... well, never mind, we should go sit down now... I don't want to just stand around when it starts."

Kise smiled. "Okay~!"

~

Thirty minutes had passed and the feast was almost halfway over. Kuroko was mostly quiet and he didn't really attempt to talk to Murasakibara again since he seemed busy eating and he especially didn't start talking to Akashi since the red-haired King was busy chatting with Kise; who was on the other side of Kuroko.

Kuroko felt a sinking feeling in his chest as he watched them, observing as Akashi laughed a little a few of the times Kise said a joke. It was understandable that Kise and him would talk since one of them was the family's Joker... but something about it made Kuroko a little upset, thinking about the Kong's lack of attention towards him during most of this meal...

Did Akashi... not care about him anymore? Or even... at all?

That thought kind of made Kuroko feel even worse, sending his mind into a sort of zoned out state until he felt Akashi touch his shoulder. Kuroko looked up at the pleasent-eyed male, observing him as he began to talk.

"Hey, Kuroko, you've been quiet... is something the matter?" Akashi said, blinking a few times.

Kuroko gulped a little. "Nothing, I'm fine..."

Akashi then smirked a little, leaning in closer.

"Okay then, if your 'fine' would you mind to come to my room afterwords? I would like to talk about something."

Kuroko felt a blush dust his cheeks, thinking of the one thing he really shouldn't have been thinking of. "Um, what do you want to talk about?"

Akashi smiled even more, a little devilishly glint in his eyes.

"Things~"

Kuroko felt himself gulp, his heart racing. He was thinking about a good reply to respond to that when a pink-haired lady came across the stage behind them and began to project her voice across the dinning hall.

"I-*hiccup* d-dare a few of you... t-to do a play!" She said, clearly drunk. The people in their seats chartered, clearly talking about how embarrassing she was for the King especially for the family she belonged to; the Fuchsia family.

However, Akashi's expression didn't waver from before and he continued to smile slightly.

"Sure, what kind of play would that be; Princess Momoi?" The red-eyed male said with a pleasant tone. The Scarlet members around him looked uncomfortable but they stayed silent.

"Um..." Momoi said, seeming as if she wasn't as drunk moments before. "A-A play with... r-royal members."

"Should we vote?" A lone person said and a bunch of people chatted a little more, murmuring. Momoi nodded her head 'yes 'and they took awhile before they said who they wanted to do it.

Someone stood up and spoke after a few moments.

"We decided the tan, mean-looking male with the blue hair and the short one with blue hair as well as the giant with the eating problem." He said. The male also said some other names as well that Kuroko didn't really know and he didn't really pay attention to either...

Kuroko could almost hear Aomine growl 'mean-looking, my ass...' as he passed by him on to go onto the stage with a bunch of other people. This would've normally felt embarrassing but for some strange reason he didn't really care...

After awhile, which the play had been based on Romeo & Juliet, a few of the actual actors who did plays joined in. Everyone was enjoying it now and the embarrassment from before had disappeared. Aomine and Kuroko were the main leads; trying their best to make up for whatever lines of Romeo & Juliet there were by using common talk. It was hard at times but Kuroko thought that everyone got what it was about in the end.

It was the end scene where Romeo and Juliet were both going to die and Kuroko was holding Aomine as he laid fake dying on the ground (yes, Kuroko was Romeo and Aomine was a girl).

Normally it would just end with Romeo killing himself but Kuroko decided he wanted to change it a bit...

He looked down into Aomine's eyes, who looked like he was still just as embarrassed from the start. Kuroko felt himself bite lip for a moment and contiued to to talk.

"Juliet, I... "

"Why the hell am I a girl; I never choose this..." Aomine muttered low enough to where only Kuroko could hear.

"... I ... l-love..." Kuroko said as he felt himself blush a little, the embarrassment he hadn't even felt before rush over him. "You.."

Aomine rolled his eyes and muttered "Finally, Its over..."

Kuroko, who used all of his strength to battle through his embarrassment to do this, leaned down and pulled Aomine's face closer to his closer his...

"Hey! Stop it-" Aomine said in a hushed voice.

...and kissed him. Right there, in front of everybody. An normal, no-tongue kiss that Kuroko thought would be an okay end to the play.

Kuroko pulled away from him and Aomine looked at him, angrily. He felt bad but it didn't last long when he looked back at the audience and he felt his heart dropped as he looked at Akashi...

His gold eye had appeared and Kuroko never thought he would ever see such a dark look in that expression. It was stern, cold and an unmoving stare that Kuroko would never forget. If looks could kill, well, you wouldn't just die without being tortured by a look such as that.

Kuroko felt himself gulp, standing up as the audience began to clap slowly. They all quickly stopped when they heard the King stand up and almost slam his chair towards the table; walking out of their in a quick pace and closing the doors shut with a loud SLAM.

They all quickly became silent and Kuroko was left there, confused and very nervous.

What just happened?

~

[Akashi's POV]

I stormed into my room, shutting the door behind me. I was almost eager enough to smash some of my things on my shelves onto the ground because of my newfound anger, but I stopped myself from doing so. Instead, I tried to calm myself down, taking a few deep breathes. I then sat on my bedside, looking downwards and thought deeply for next few minutes.

Why am I feeling like this?

Why... do I ever feel like this? Why do I generally feel like this around Tetsuya? Why does my heart ever feel different around him?

The thought of Tetsuya makes me feel a little better, but at the same time it made me upset since he kissed that blue-haired Prince Aomine. Did he really have to? Or was it... he wanted to?

I clenched my fist at the thought, feeling my chest tighten. I was about to lay back in the bed when I realized something...

Why was my bed... messy?

I stood up and looked at it. I could've sworn I saw my maid fix it before I leave...

I quickly noticed a few strands of hair there, leaning downwards to get a closer look. There were dark blue strands... and teal ones as well?

My imagination soared of what this could possibly mean; my thoughts all leading to that very, very wrong thought.

Could... that Prince... have done this... to taunt me? By doing that in my room?

I really wanted to smash everything again, except this time I just couldn't calm down.

One thought was left in my head;

What just happened?


	11. Jealous

After Akashi ran out, Kuroko felt Aomine flick the back of his head. He rubbed it for a moment before looking back at the blue-haired male.

"Baka! What was that for?" Aomine growled.

Kuroko felt a bit worried. "What do you mean?"

"BAKA!" Aomine growled again while placing his hands on his hips. "I'm talking about that stunt before- what was that all about?!"

"That kiss... um, well..." Kuroko looked downwards and felt his chest fill with a hot embarrassment. "I thought that was a good end since it was Romeo & Juliet after all..."

"Okay, well, sorry for yelling... I was just upset because it might have given him the wrong impression if he did actually like you," Aomine grumbled, ruffling his blue hair as he glanced back at Kuroko with slightly softer eyes. "Just go after him and try to make it up... that's the best advice I got for you."

Kuroko gave a quizzical look. "But, um-"

"Just do it or I'll get angry again!" Aomine growled as he shoved Kuroko's back and towards the door.

Kuroko looked back for a moment with wide eyes before nodding his head; stepping off the stage and walking past a crowd of royal family members and through the wide, tall brown doors.

_____

This castle felt even more maze-like than what Kuroko had thought it had been. He had gotten lost in here before but in this part of the castle every hallway and door looked so similar that he doubted he would ever find Akashi.

Kuroko passed by a familiar-looking corner and noticed that it looked like the room Akashi had given him before. When he walked closer, he became certain that, indeed, it was his room.

However, something felt different. The door was opened by the slightest; the darkness inside emitting from that open crevice. Kuroko knew someone must've been in there; or at least, someone had the intention of going in there... or had never left.

He opened it, slightly, as he slowly crept into the dimly lit room. Everything was dark except for a few lit candles on the side; lighting the room just bright enough so he could see the outlines of the furniture around him.

Kuroko looked at the bed in front of him as he felt his foot hit the bottom bed frame, observing the unruffled bed sheets in that quiet moment until he felt someone put a hand on his mouth and wrap the other arm around his waist.

Kuroko fought desperately against this person who had trapped him, but unfortunately, couldn't under the person's strangely powerful strength and the person quickly took their chance to carefully shove Kuroko onto the bed.

Kuroko turned over on his back and looked up to see the faint outline of... Akashi. He was shocked when he saw the red-head through that shrouded darkness.

A tint of anger swirled in Akashi's red and gold eyes as he hovered over Kuroko; clenching his fists as he looked down at the blue-haired male. However, that tint quickly disappeared into something more lustful and even a little 'hurt' at the same time.

Kuroko watched Akashi in that moment of silence, seeing him speak only a few words;

"You're mine..."

Akashi leaned downwards and began to bite gently on Kuroko's neck; quickly finding his sweet spot. Kuroko moaned slightly; feeling a spark rush through his body as he did that. It felt weird but pleasurable.

"A-Akashi... What are you... doing... Hah..." Kuroko said lightly as he gripped the bed sheets under his hand.

Akashi smirked slightly in response, his gold eye flickering with excitement as he leaned back and neared his face. 

"Something that that blue-haired Prince should never have done...." Akashi whispered with a deep tone as he kissed Kuroko; letting his tongue roam the inside of his mouth. Kuroko was perplexed of what he meant by Aomine, but even then it wasn't his main focus.

Kuroko knew Akashi must've been doing this because he was upset or for some other reason. He knew it wasn't right and he shouldn't support this. He knew... yet he really didn't want it to stop; even though he knew.

Akashi trailed his hand down Kuroko's shirt and lifted it up, slowly, all the while still kissing him. Kuroko grabbed his arm that was touching him and tried to pull it off, failing. He then tried to squirm out from under him; halfway doing so by crawling further up on his back while Akashi observed with a dark look in his eyes.

"Are you leaving me?" He said sternly, with an 'absolute' look in his eyes.

Kuroko looked at him with a normal expression; trying to keep calm and keep his heart from beating so much. But even then he still talked with a bit of a stutter.

"N-No, Akashi... I-"

"Then stay..." Akashi said as he came closer; reaching his hand towards his arm. Kuroko gulped; feeling a heavy blush creep up on his face.

As Akashi neared him once more; Kuroko tried to sit up, somewhat, as he looked at Akashi with widened eyes.

"S-Stop... Akashi, please..." Kuroko managed to say as quietly, sounding a little like a whimper. "You're not... well..."

Akashi's eyes looked slightly hurt and Kuroko almost regretted saying that until his eyes shifted into something more aggravated, more aggressive and Kuroko felt shivers run down his spine.

"Fine," The red-haired male growled slightly as he stood up from the bed and headed towards the door while looking back with a dark glance. "Go be with your Prince, I don't care."

And as he shut the door with a loud slam and left Kuroko there in the dimly lit darkness; the blue-haired male stood up and looked at his feet; feeling a dark, heavyweight hold down his chest as regret filled his entire being.

Should I have just 'went along' with him...?

Kuroko placed a hand on his chest as he felt his heart hurt more and more by each regretful and heartbreaking thought.

Is it possible that he did that... because...

...he likes me?

....

Did I ruin that?


	12. Thief

Kuroko walked the halls slowly as he looked downwards; dozens of emotion running through him. However, his main emotion at the moment had to be confusion, since everything Akashi said to him before was so... bewildering. So much so he wasn't sure what he should'd exactly felt at that moment.

Kuroko looked up to see the towering purple-haired male from before leaning against the wall. Kuroko could hear faint chatter behind that corner; indicating that he was back at the feast area.

Murasakibara glanced to the side, spotting the blue-haired male with a blank look. "Hm? You're that Kuroko from before..."

"Yeah" Kurko muttered loud enough for him to hear.

"Midorima mentioned you~" He said with a soft sigh as he took out a snack from his clothing and ate it. "Said something about some 'plan'..."

Kuroko ears perked up, slightly interested. "What plan?"

"About setting up a trap for you and the tan Prince. He kept on bragging about it when I was eating~"

"Setting up? How? What did he mean by that?"

He looked at Kuroko a little darker with a tint of aggravation in his voice. "You talk a lot; like Midorima."

"Sorry, I just really need to know." Kuroko frowned slightly.

Murasakibara took a minute to talk again before he sighed and closed his eyes for a brief moment and then opened them.

"He said that he was going to ruin the new king by ruining his 'relationship' with you," He said as he chewed on a snack he popped into his mouth. "Something about him saying how he would frame you and someone else~"

"Oh, um, thank you... that makes things a little bit more clear; thanks again." Kuroko said a little quickly. The purple-haired male just gave out an 'eh~' as he slumped more on the wall and Kuroko took that as a signal for him to leave.

Kuroko began to walk towards Akashi's room, feeling himself hesitate a few times on the way. If Midorima had actually done something to make Akashi upset, then that made things a lot more sensible now. I guess now I know what he meant by me and Aomine, Kuroko thought, Aomine must've been the other person he had set up...

But what was he going to do now? Akashi was most likely still angry and probably wouldn't even dare to speak to Kuroko at the moment. He might not even want to listen to him explain what was going on. And even if Kuroko did get the chance to explain, which was from from likely; what if Kuroko ended up being wrong for some bizarre reason? What if Akashi wasn't angry about that and wait was actually something else? Kuroko would end up revealing he liked him in the first place and it would end up just diggong his grave even deeper...

Kuroko suddenly heard rattling from a room next to him that he passed by. He just looked at it and waited for a brief moment to observe what it was from afar; as he learned last time what curiosity had gotten him into when he last went into a room.

Suddenly a hand grabbed Kuroko by the shoulder and pulled him inside as the door opened. Kuroko felt himself being moved from the hallway into the middle of an almost pitch-black room being held by some mysterious captor from behind in almost two seconds flat. This day was getting stranger by the second...

Kuroko glanced back for one second to see only a glimpse of red hair in the little light from the windows this room had. Although it was a little dim in color, Kuroko couldn't help but feel his spirits rise.

"Akashi!"

"Huh? Who the hell is that?" The unfamiliar voice said with a rough tone.

Kuroko realized very quickly how wrong he was when he said that as he turned around to face this kidnapper, who, as Kuroko could base off in the shadows, was a tall man with reddish hair and a strange darker red base as well. He looked a bit rougish; quickly indicating to Kuroko that he wasn't a royal member.

"Sorry, just... why did you grab me?" Kuroko said a little surprised.

"Oh, I need a hostage, cuz' you know," He said while grinning a little and rubbing the back of his head. "I'm doing a robbery right now~"

"You're a thief? What are you stealing?" Kuroko asked and the red-head laughed.

"Wow, you know your the first person not to immediately freak out when I do things like this." He said with a grin; ignoring him in that moment.

"Well, I've had strange things happen to me already so I'm not really fazed."

"Haha, that's nice." He smiled as he said the next sentence a little jokingly. "Anyway, yes, I'm a thief and, no, I'm not telling you what I'm taking... personal!"

"Oh, um, then can I ask why I'm being kidnapped?" Kuroko said quizically.

"'Cause you're a royal from that feast and I thought I might need to use you. Simple and easy plan of mine; works most of the time." He said as he glanced in the corner.

"Oh, yeah; that makes sense..." Kuroko said. He felt like he shouldn't break it to this person yet that he wasn't a royal because even though he seemed okay, if he managed to find out Kuroko wasn't useful anymore then he might dispose of him; for good. That motivated him enough to keep his mouth shut.

"Hey, we got to go now. Chatting is nice, but I have a robbery to do at the moment so I'm a little busy." He said as he headed towards the wall and messed around with a few stuff in the dark corner. Kuroko heard a few clinks until he came back over and then lead him to where he was messing around with. Kuroko observed the corner to see that he had placed a ladder by the wall that reached into a boxy hole in the roof of the room.

He climbed up the stairs first and managed to fit his body through it. He looked back down and reached his hand and Kuroko slowly crept up the stairs and easily slid through the hole and into whatever the place the red-haired person had entered. It looked like some small room connected by very small, crawl-able tunnels.

"This is like the Kingdom's attic; almost never used and connects to all the rooms to the castle. Today was the best day to come for me since everyone is so focused on the feast at the moment that'll be easier to get away." He explained as he pointed at one, lone tunnel. "Anyway, you go first. I need to keep an eye on you."

Kuroko just simply nodded and went ahead; crawling through the tunnel several feet before the red-head joined soon after.

 

After a while of continuous crawling, Kuroko finally decided to say something.

"What's your name?"

"Kagami" The red-head said. "Anything else?"

"Um..." Kuroko took a moment. "Uh... well..."

"Say it! I don't have all day!"

"Are those eyebrows..." Kuroko said a little slowly at the start before he quickened his pace. "... normally mutated like that?"

"S-Shut up! Only ask things that are important, jeez!""

They kept on going for what felt like an hour until Kagami stopped and Kuroko instinctually stopped as well. Kuroko glanced back to see Kagami heading down a hallway that connected to the one tunnel they were in; Kuroko quickly following him right after. Finally they reached a bigger space where Kuroko could at least sit rather then crawl in that uncomfortable position all the time.

"This is most likely the place..." Kagami said while pointing at a tile beneath them. "After I push this out, we'll go into the room I'm after and get what I came for. In case anybody is there, you're my leverage since some royal family may need you."

"Okay." Kuroko simply said as Kagami gave out a scoff, rolling his eyes.

"Wow, you really are one strange hostage; so calm..." Kagami muttered, chuckling a little before he kicked the tile he was pointing out before with his foot. It gave in very quickly and fell, hitting the floor beneath them with a SMASH.

Kagami grabbed Kuroko by the arm and pushed him near it. "Go first, I'll follow. The most damage you'll get is a broken arm, so don't worry!"

Shouldn't that be worrying though anyway...?

Kuroko just sighed in agreement, not saying anything as he carefully neared the hole and jumped through. Fortunately the ground was pretty close that he didn't have to worry about breaking any appendages of his so that made him feel somewhat better.

Kuroko found himself looking at a wall, noticing the expensive-looking paintings pinning up against. What exactly was this Kagami stealing...?

He turned around to see a certain red-haired male sitting on a wooden-framed and embroidered bed with his shirt off and only his pants left on. A pile of clothes sitting next to him indicated that he was getting dressed after a wash, which Kuroko could also tell by his dampened hair.

"Kuroko...?" Akashi said while his eyes widened slightly. Kuroko felt himself blush out of embarrassment as Kagami fell from the ceiling right above and hit his head on the ground as he fell on his back; which looked like it hurt.

"Oh, shit; that hurt!" Kagami growled in pain as he rubbed the back of his head and stood up on his feet. He blinked a few times as he noticed Akashi, his face growing awkward.

"Oops, wrong room... heh-heh."


	13. Room

Kuroko watched as the awkward silence between the three of them grew in that small moment; Akashi's deathly stare not making it any better. Suddenly, Kagami grabbed Kuroko from behind and wrapped his arm around his neck. The blue-haired male glanced back slightly to see Kagami look down on him and wink; Kuroko understanding that the red-haired thief was planning on doing something.

Kagami looked back at Akashi with fierce eyes and a large grin. "Regardless whether or not this is the wrong room; I think you'll tell me eagerly where the right one is in a few seconds."

"Oh, really? Why would I?" Akashi raised an eyebrow with a bored expression.

Kagami pulled out a short kitchen knife and put it on Kuroko's neck as he removed his arm and placed it around his waist.

"Well, since you've been eyeing this person this whole time; I doubt you want me to kill him right here and now, right?" Kagami said. "I think you'd even give me a special tour of where that room is, if you know what I mean."

Akashi's face had returned to that anger from before: although this time his golden eye was flickering and darkness shrouded his expression. His hand then moved slowly to something behind him, Akashi quickly standing up and pointing a sharp, pointy small sword at Kagami's face; Kuroko recognizing immediately that it was a fencing sword.

"Whoa!" Kagami said with a a bit of a chuckle as he contiued. "Do you normally keep sharp things near you when you're changing?"

"Only when I'm doing fencing later today," Akashi smirked. "Right now, I think I have enough 'fencing skills' to easily impale this sharp blade into your skull unless you let Tetsuya go right this minute~"

"Ok, then," Kagami said as he gave out a good chuckle. "Go ahead and stab me with that fine knife and I'll slit his throat at the same time, Hm? How about it?"

"I'll stab you faster"

"Sure, try that. I bet it'd be a lovely experiment to see who had the quicker hand."

Akashi was about to growl back when he stopped himself and sighed heavily soon after, taking a few steps back as he threw the fencing sword onto the bed next to him. He gave Kagami another dark and deadly stare.

"Well, then? What do you want?" Akashi said with a light growl. Kagami laughed a little, slightly loosening his grip on Kuroko as he relaxed; somewhat.

"Like I mentioned before; I want the right room."

Akashi raised an eyebrow. "What is that, anyway?"

"Y-Your... crown room! Where you keep crowns!" Kagami broadcasted loudly.

Akashi had a confused expression, yet it seemed to be making fun of him. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Don't lie! One of the commoners told me! It's around the corner; right?!" Kagami growled.

"Are you sure this commoner wasn't lying to you?" Akashi said while eyeing Kuroko. The blue-haired male could tell he was buying time for some plan of his.

"Well, he was laughing at me while he said it..." Kagami muttered quietly as his brain started to wrap around it until he burst out of his thought bubble and raised his voice again. "...Wait, you're tricking me by tricking me! Haha! I should've known you would try to lie! "

Wasn't a thief suppose to be... smarter?

Well, Kuroko thought, he did have the brains enough to learn about the tunnels we went through to get here; but soon after that he lost any smarts he had...

"Oh, yeah; the room," Akashi looked like he was about to roll his eyes, which instead he decided to go along with Kagami's beliefs. "It should be on the right and down two halls and you'll get your crown in no time. Is that good?"

"Cool, thanks shorty." Kagami gave a large grin. Akashi grumbled something like 'don't even call me that' as the thief pushed Kuroko forward towards the red-haired King.

Kagami left the room, leaving Kuroko looking behind him to see that Akashi's hands were on the side of his upper arms. Kuroko blushed slightly at the close intimacy as Akashi looked at him; backing away a few feet.

"Follow me, I'll lead you out the castle." Akashi said as he started walking out; quickly slipping a shirt on him. Kuroko hesitated, a bit confused on what he said. "I sent the thief to the security room where the guards are so he'll be apprehended immediately."

"But what about my room? I mean, if you're talking about me leaving permanently..." The teal-haired male said quietly as Akashi was at the verge of leaving the room completely. He stopped and sighed a little.

"You probably don't want to stay here after... that time." He simply muttered. Kuroko was even more confused then before when he realized he was referring to the 'event' before with Akashi in his room. Kuroko couldn't respond to that; no words coming to mind.

Akashi walked out and Kuroko followed behind him, passing by several doors before Kuroko noticed some noises behind one specially decorated door; warning the blue-haired male to stay away and not end up getting 'taken' again like with Kagami. However, as he watched Akashi's figure begin to diminish as he continued to walk and Kuroko told himself to catch up; he suddenly heard someone say help from the inside of the room and Kuroko felt the need to quickly open the door to see what was going on.

Hands quickly grabbed Kuroko's arms and dragged him inside, the blue-haired male thinking in that fleeting moment that he had made the same mistake just like before and probably that scream for help was just some scheme.

And as the doors closed roughly, yet in sudden and swift quiet motion, Akashi slowed down and looked back, confused as to why he didn't see Kuroko walking behind him...


End file.
